Maximum-electrical-current indicator and recorder.



Nd. 658,022. Patented Sept. I8, 1900.

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MAXIMUM ELECTRICAL CURRENT INDICATOR AND RECORDER.

(Application filed May 3, 1900.; (No Model.)

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(- oooooooooooooopooee U ITED," STATES PATENT OFF ERNEST CECIL RIMINGTON, or LONDON, ENGLAND."

MAXIMuM-ELEcTmcAL cu-RRENr INDICATOR AND RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 658,022, dated September 18, 1900.

Application 1118a May 3, 1900.

To all whom it may concern} I y I Be it known that I, ERNEST CECIL RIMING- TON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain f and Ireland, residing at London, England,

have invented a new and useful Maximum- Electrical Cu rrent Indicator and, Recorder, 1

(for which I have made application for Letters Patent in Great-Britain" and date November 28;, 18 following is a specification. I

This invention relates toa ma, trical-current indicator or recon consists of an apparatus vw-h bylt e foon stant generation of a gas or,gases', suiiasfby electrolysis of water by thepa'ssing electrical current, is utilized to effect a recordfpf t heh, maximum current that has passed, provided such maximum has had a predetermined du ration, so as to avoid registration of a mere accidental and short rise of current.

In many cases of the supply of electrical current to consumers the maximum current .required for a definite period has been deemed to be an important factor in the estimation of the charge per unit of current supplied, and in such case a maximum-current-recording indicator is required. The volume of gases liberated in a given time by the electrolysis of a passing current is a reliable indication of the amount of current passing, and instruments upon this basis are extant in which by the inverse measurement of the volume of water left in the electrolytic cell a record is obtained of the total amount of current that has been consumed quantitatively at any time, the gases in this case being allowed to go to waste. I therefore may utilize the gases as generated in a quantitative measuring instrument to operate niy maximum -recording apparatus or may, as part of my apparamodified recording device and time-lag, and Fig. 4 is a detached detail of a further-modified form of time-lag.

K is an electrolytic cell with electrodes is closed, so that all gas generated is forced to underNo.23,753

'h' metal-plate plug,or by other equivalentreexit. the cell K and the tube A beyond that which Serial No. 15,359. (No modal.

tube with ascending leg A, the lower part of the U-tube being filled with a liquid at. In the upper part of the tube Aabove the liquid at I provide a by-pass B .to the atmosphere limited as to its power of permitting the gas to escape by a porous'plng C, such as compressed glass wool, or by a pin-hole in a striction of the passage of gas throughsuch The accumulation of the gas within is allowed to escape will thus provide a means by its rising pressure for indication and eventual permanent record by a recording device,

pass by the tube A,'which is formed as a U- hereinafter described, of the maximum current that has passed at any time.

By making the lower 'd'esce'nding part of the U-tube larger in diameter than that of the ascending leg A the rise of the column of liquid at in the leg A may be multiplied as regards the ratio of descent of the liquid a in the lower part of A under the accumulated gaseous pressure, and a permanent record may be preserved by the staining of a rod H in the said tube A or the washing off from such rod of a dissolvable color or by pockets formed in the face of a strip of metal H, suspended in the liquid in A, which pock ets will retain portions of liquid .up to the highest level attained by the liquid. Equivalently, to obtain a permanent record of the maximum rise of the liquid at in the leg A of the U-tube I may provide an overflow-passage D from the tube A with a depending pocket-tube E, in which the overflow liquid will collect. To insure perfect and uninterrupted overflow into the pocket-tube E, I find it advisable to addan air by-pass R. Equivalently, to obtain a permanent record of maximum current I may conduct the tube A, containing the accumulated gas-pressu re, direct to a mechanical pressure-gage F,sucl1' as the well-known Bourdon-tube gage, and the ordinary indicating-hand L may be cau'se'dto push before it a supplementary balanced hand N, mounted upon its pivot withsufficient frictional resistance to rotation to remain at the ultimatepoint to which it has been pushed by the ordinary indicating-hand L.

In order that any short and accidental rises of the current may not produce any permatoo nent addition to the maximum record, I -in-' troduce a time-lag in my recordingapparatus between the operative gas and the recording mechanism. This time-lag I may provide invarious equivalent ways. First, as in Figs.

1 and 2, I provide a plug G, closing the end of the rising part of the U -tube A, which plug may be porous, such as porous earthenware, or may have a minute pin-hole therethro'ughf thus retarding the rise of the liquid column in A for a time until the inclosed air above it gradually escapes. Second, as in Fig. 3, I may provide a closed vessel or chamber V,

of considerable capacity, connected to the pipe A, the rise of pressure by accumulation of gas being thus delayed in proportion to the volume of the space that has to be filled by the excess accumulation of gas. Third, as in Fig. 4, I may apply a constriction X anywhere in the tube A, so that the rising column of liquid is caused to pass through a pin-hole and is thus retarded in any tendency to quick movement.

Having now described my said invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters. Patent, is-

1. In combination a closed electrolytic cell, an exit-tube for the gases generated by 'el ectrolysis,a partially-impeded exit to the atmos-; phere from said gas-tube, and means oonuected to closed end of said gas-tube for permanently recording the highest pressure generated by the accumulated gases.

2. In combination a closedelectrolytic cell, an exit-tube therefrom for the gases generated byelectrolysis, a partially-im peded exit to the atmosphere from said gas-tube; means connected to the closed end of said gas-tube for permanently recording the highest pressure generated by the accumulated gases; and means for retarding the immediate efiect of the accumulated gaseous pressure upon the recording device.

3. In combination a closed electrolytic cell, an exit-tube for the gases therefrom, an exit by-pass to atmosphere from the said gas-tube, a porous plug in said by-pass to impede the exit of gases to the atmosphere, a continuation of the gas-tube as a U-tube, a liquid therein, and means for permanently recording the rise of level of said liquid in the as- (sending leg of said U-tube.

4. In com bination a closed an exit-tube for the gases therefrom, an impeded exit bypas's to atmosphere from the said gas-tube, a U-bend continuation of gastube With.,liquid'therein, and a side issue from ascending leg of U-tube with a pocket tube or trap connected thereto for permanent reception of'overtlow li 'nid therein.

In 'witn ess whereof have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST CECIL RIMING'ION. Witnesses;

JOHN C. FELL, RICHARD A. HOFFMANN.

electrolytic cell, 

